


Just One Job

by IWillNotGoGentlyIntoThatGoodNight (Menochange)



Series: One shots [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Batfamily Feels, Batfamily Shenanigans, Bruce is dead, Con Artists, Gen, Leverage AU, No Batman, No superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 14:59:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19134424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menochange/pseuds/IWillNotGoGentlyIntoThatGoodNight
Summary: Tim calls in the Batfam back together to pull one last heist and gain revenge on the man who betrayed them two years ago.Leverage AU, where there is no DCU (so Batman or Supers) but instead the Batfam are all independent con artists, hitters, thieves and hackers who had all been taught by and then worked with the illusive Ringleader and Mastermind extraordinaire only know to the world by his alias; Batman.





	Just One Job

“This is bullshit man, we all agreed to walk away from this shit and now you call us back for no fucking reason. I should beat your ass replacement” Jason yelled slamming his fist down onto the dinner table.

“Hey Johnny Bravo, settle down. No one forced you to come. If you don’t want to be here then don’t fucking be here” Steph argued glaring angrily turning towards Jason – although Tim couldn’t tell whether it was in defence of Tim or her cereal which was now scattered all over the table.

“You might wanna step off blondie or this shit’s gonna get real physical” Jason threatened contradicting himself by stepping closer into Steph’s personal space.

“Oh yeah, whatcha gonna do tough guy” Steph goaded getting up from her seat.

“Both of you stop it. Stephanie sit back down and Jaybird, Steph is right if you want to leave then leave. Otherwise sit down, shut up and listen to Tim” Dick scolded stepping out of the shadows to take a seat at the table.

“Dickface, what the fuck are you doing here? I though you were all about the straight and narrow, What? Did being an officer of the law got too boring for the golden boy?” Jason mocked never one to give up the opportunity to fight with his ‘older brother’.

“I invited him which you would have already known if you didn’t insist upon making this an even bigger spectacle” Tim cut in, holding up a hand when Jason scoffed in response “No listen, like I was saying before, you all know why we’re here but in case anyone – Jason – has forgotten. Two years ago we tried to pull one of the greatest cons in history and were betrayed by the very man who brought us all together again” Tim paused for dramatic effect before he pressed the clicker in his left hand bringing up the presentation he had spent the last 6 months preparing. Images and financial records rushed onto the screen, each and every photo showing a picture of the same man. A handsome, well dressed man in his prime appeared on the screen in multiple locations.

“Thomas Elliot, AKA Hush. He was an old friend of B’s. Basically the job was… ”

“Replacement, why the fuck are you acting like none of us have met the asshole in question. You said it yourself two years ago he called all of us in for a job and set us up to take the fall like the motherfucking backstabber that he is.” Jason cut in rolling his eyes.

“Yes, but not everyone here knows who Hush is and not all of us were involved in that initial heist. I’m just trying to make sure that everyone here is on the same page before we get to my plan” Tim explained frustrated at being interrupted for what felt like the millionth time.

“Plan? What plan? You didn’t mention anything about a plan” Duke asked looking away from his phone to accept the briefing packet Tim started to hand out to each of them.

“Wait so it is true, you all agreed to do a Con for Hush? I mean I had heard rumours, but I didn’t think any of you had actually agreed” Dick asked incredulous

“Get off your high horse Goldie, just because you didn’t get invited…”

“I was invited, I just didn’t think it was a smart idea to rip off one of the most connected and powerful people in the world. B’s not around to cover up your messes anymore Jaybird” Dick fired back.

“I mean if everyone had played their part then Luthor wouldn’t have even known we were even involved. It was a straight bait and switch with a little dash of the Roman shuffle for some added flair Dick.” Barbara explained and Dick stared at her betrayed.

“Babs, you too? We agreed to go straight, when B died. The rest of them I can understand but Babs you and me, we were supposed to ..”

“To what Richard? And what you and me are you even talking about? Oh you mean how you just fucking disappeared once everything was done. B was barely in the ground when you took the first chance you could get to up and leave. You left all of us behind to go live a normal civilian life, the life you always believed B deprived you of. Jason’s right Dick, get off your high horse. You’re back here like the rest of us.” Barbara snarled from the other side of the room.

“Babs… I… It’s complicated, I swear I didn’t mean to…”

“It wasn’t about the money. It was for you father” Selena raised her voice to be heard over everyone else who had begun to talk.

“Selena is right. It was about justice and revenge. We had all just lost our mentor and yes some of us weren’t exactly on speaking terms with B at the time of his death but He was the closest thing any of us had to real family. He’s trained us, made us into the people we are today. And you weren’t exactly around to help” Steph added

“Dr Elliot told us that Luthor had documents that would help us find out who killed B. He said Lex had bankrolled the whole operation and that he had gotten away with B’s death. He had proof that seemed legit man, we were all completely convinced right up until we were caught up in the double cross” Duke sighed

The room fell silent for a moment before Tim cleared his throat drawing everyone’s attention back on him. “That’s exactly why we’re here. He screwed us. He used us to cheat Luthor out of 352 million dollars and then left us to take the blame. I mean it’s a good thing that we all had training from B because if we were a little more trusting we would probably be dead or in jail by now. As it is Luthor and several government agencies both national and international have placed several bounties on our heads. Not to mention all the time we spent planning the Con and all the things we had to do, the sacrifices we had to make to escape. So yes, he screwed us plain and simple. I mean I expected more loyalty from one of B’s friends but I get it, it’s the nature of the con, I can let all of that go. I found something special, over these last two years that have made me really believe I can let it all go”

“I fucking can’t, if I ever see that asswipe of a Dr again I’m going to take my gun and shoot him in the fucking head” Kate muttered loudly causing Steph and Jason to laugh.

“So I suppose the question is, why are we here then? Why did you call us all here if you just wanted to let it go?” Babs asked raising her eyebrow in question.

“Thing is, it wasn’t the fact that Hush lied to us, used us for his own personal gain, cheated us all out of our fair share of the money or that he betrayed us painting targets on our backs. No what really matters is that he used B to get us all there. He exploited the fact that we were all venerable over recent death of our father to lure us into a trap. He used Bruce’s death as an excuse to lie, cheat and steal and that is something I cannot let go. That’s why we’re all here tonight. Hush has resurfaced for the first time in two years and we’re all going to take him down.” Tim grinned menacingly as he brought up the next page of his presentation “I’d like to show you all what I have planned”

 

* * *

 

 

 “It’s not possible” Steph sighed defeated “There is no way we could possibly pull it off.”

“Yeah I hate to say it man, but there is no way this is going to work. I don’t know if you remember but that last job was a disaster even before we got stabbed in the back.” Duke agreed shrugging.

“Yeah I hate all of you. Also what’s to stop us from going it solo?” Jason asked

 “He’s right, a team of one means no chance of betrayal” Selena joined winking at Jason

“There won’t be any betrayals because we all have the same goal. Look I know you’re all sceptical, but we can do this. I’ve tailored the plan so that we use each of our strengths to cover each other’s weaknesses, I have plans in place should anything go wrong, and it should honestly only take us twenty-four hours tops. I’m not asking you guys to work together forever I’m just asking if you can all put aside your differences for this one job. For Bruce.” Tim pleaded making eye contact with everyone in the room.

“Okay, say we were to agree to this plan of yours. We’d still be screwed because we don’t have a thief. Cass is still in Hong Kong and I haven’t spoken to her for weeks. So, unless you know where to find her then this is all moot” Steph sighed reaching for one of Jason’s beers.

“Babs? I was hoping that you would be able to help us with that.” Tim bit his lip his hope clear on his face.

Barbara sighed and shook her head “I know where she is but she’s deep in a long con in one of the cartels. I warned her not to mess with them but you know Cass. I think B mentioned that they had something of value before he died. I think she’s out there trying to find it”

“Shit. Okay kiddies. Anyone have any contacts as good as Blackbat?” Selena asked the room at large but it seemed that no one could think of anyone who could match Cassandra.

“I mean, one of us could do it, Dicky, Steph?” Jason offered but Dick shook his head adamantly.

“Sorry Jaybird, not possible”

“D’s right, we’re good thieves but we’re better grifters and neither of us could match Cass. That girl is amazing when she works.” Steph agreed.

“Well there’s that plan down the drain, What else you Timborine?”

“Nothing, I have nothing… We have nothing if we don’t have a thief. Like I said, I accounted for all of our strengths and weaknesses combined. Without Cass we have no chance in hell of pulling this off” Tim cried, collapsing in his chair in defeat. “Thanks for coming though guys. It was good while it lasted”

The air was thick with despair as the room’s occupants started to realise that they had been subconsciously invested in this idea of revenge that was never going to happen. They had their chance and they missed it. It had been stupid to even hope.

“Wait… I … I may have a solution. I know someone who can do it. He’s not as good as Cass and he’s young, but the kid is a quick study and honestly a prodigy. But there are rules and …” Dick offered hesitantly

“Wait, you had someone this whole time and you did say shit. What the fuck Dickhead?” Jason argued angrily cutting him off.

“You don’t understand, it’s complicated, he’s complicated and like I said there are rules that have to be followed for me to even think about allowing this.”

“Allowing this? Why are you acting like some overprotective parent? We all started this young” Jason asked, eyes narrowed, assessing his brother.

“Oh My GOD. You have a kid.” Steph shrieked in surprise “That’s it right, you’re putting forward your own kid for the job”

“No, well I mean yes but…” Dick started to explain but the room had already descended into chaos, with everyone trying to talk over each other at the same time.

“It doesn’t matter” Barbara called loudly “A toddler can’t do the job, no matter how skilled you think he is”

“He’s not a toddler” Dick admitted somewhat reluctantly.

“Two is a toddler boy blunder” Barbara laughed but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Babs, he’s not… He isn’t two, he’s almost thirteen”

“Hold on kitten, how long have you been hiding this kid for? Did Bruce know?” Selena asked breaking the stunned silence that followed Dick’s explanation.

“No but, it’s not what you think”

“Not what we think? Dicky you’re barely thirty, so you had this kid when you were what? Sixteen? And you never said shit to any of us. You? The one who preaches about family and trust. Give me a fucking break” Jason ranted angrily as some of the room’s other occupants to nod in agreement.

“Jaybird, it’s not…” Dick started but didn’t get to finish as everyone else started yelling once again.

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell us…”

“Dude, seriously no one would have judged you…”

“Kitten, why didn’t you tell your father? He would have…”

 “Wait hold up, Babs did you know? Does this mean Dicky cheated or did he just lie about the existence of this kid? I mean either way it was a dick move…”

“Dick why didn’t you tell me? I told you everything and I’m not like Jason I would have…”

“Wow, my cousin really had no clue that…”

“I mean it’s not a big deal that he had a kid right and if he’s old enough to help then he should, but I mean it was a dick move…”

“Harper, it’s not any of our business if he has a kid or not…”

“HE’S NOT MY KID” Dick finally yelled frustrated causing everyone else to quiet down, all eyes upon him once again “Biologically. He’s not my kid biologically. I took him in three years ago, right before B died.”

“Wait what? Seriously? You couldn’t have said that from the beginning and saved us all from wild speculation?” Steph sassed, eyes darting from Dick to Barbara – who looked more than a little relieved.

“I was trying to explain, but like I said there are rules that will be in place if he’s to help out. The main rule being that none of you are to breath a word of this conversation. He can never know about this. You all have to swear to it.”

“Dude don’t you think you’re being more than a little paranoid?” Harper laughed

“No” Dick countered immediately, staring them all down until they agreed “Dami, he’s not mine. Not by blood anyway, he’s… well the thing is he’s B’s kid. No, no interruptions just let me get this all out first. We found out about Dames three years ago, right before Bruce died, Damian was ten at the time. The kid had run away from his grandfather to come and live with B but Bruce didn’t want him. Didn’t even give the kid a chance, just told me to send him back. But his grandfather refused to take him back, so I made up a story and told Dames that Bruce wanted him to live with me and I’ve been looking after him ever since.” Dick took a deep breath before he continued.

“I adopted him a year ago so make no mistake he is my kid. He’s the reason I left right after the funeral, I didn’t want this life for him but honestly, it’s in his blood on both sides, his grandfather is Ra’s, his mother is Talia Al Ghul. They trained him when he was a kid and I’m trying to get him to live a normal life and to be happy but he’s not… Dames isn’t like other kids and if I’m being honest, he’s really, really bad at pretending”

No one said a word, all of them unsure what to say or how to say it, it was honestly a lot of information to process. Bruce had a kid and didn’t want him. Bruce the guy who literally picked orphans up off the street and gave them a home, a job and a reason to live didn’t even want his own kid. They had all been taken in by Bruce one way or another, he had been their saviour and now Dick was saying that they may not have known what kind of man their mentor was.

“Do you think he can do Cass’s job?” Tim asked finally breaking the silence

“Definitely” Dick grinned

“Okay then, Let’s go steal a hospital”    


End file.
